Anaya

I was always surprised at the lack of empathy people had towards Melody, a troubled teen coming from a very difficult family background. When you compare it to the strong compassionate feelings people had for other characters like Aden (with the abuse), Geoff & Annie (with their sheltered upbringing) or even Nicole (during the period where she felt nobody care for her), it seems quite odd. I think a lot of the lack of understanding can be credited to the inconsistencies in writing her, moving her from guest to perm character. If you look back, during her guest stint, people had a great affection for her character, especially when Geoff chose her over Nicole. The cute/naive/innocent relationship that followed & then the slow unravelling of her emotionally abusive background (at the hands of Christine). All of this made people understand, care for & empathise with her character easily. But this was only a short story arc with a guest character & she left. When they brought her back, they went through too many different phases with her character, in a short space of time & it was confusing. She went from a meek, innocent teen that was entirely controlled by her parents, to a mentally-unstable girl who had visions of a dead Axel, then she was okay again. And finally when she got some freedom, she went down the goodgirl gone bad route. The writers didn't know which route to take with her, so they kept changing lanes, which makes it harder to see the journey her character' going on. Also watching a goodgirl with high morals, who could be quite judgemental turn bad & carry out bad actions is harder to connect with, then the opposite where a badboy/girl starts to change for the better. Look at how people villified Annie when she had her bad phase (wrongly accusing Aden etc.). None of these are good enough excuses, or is correct reasoning for not bothering to look below the surface. But they are reasons people might find it hard to undertsand or connect with her. I had a phase where I was starting to get annoyed by Melody & her actions. But I never forgot about her controlled upbringing & all that she's been through. I think the scene where she tells Annie/Ruby "No-one liked the old me, no-one likes the new me, I don't know who i'm meant to be anymore" really helped me understand her & the reasoning behind some of her most recent behaviour. This 'not belonging' or identity crisis is what the writers are trying to show through Melody, but in the transition from guest to perm character, some of her story/journey has gotten confusing & not been explained clearly enough.

Lovely Narnia icons. The first one really stands out the most. Love the colouring & cropping on it.

Ooh GA icons. I love the colouring on the Alex icon & I really like the first Alex&Izzie icon.

^^London's just as freezing. Freezing. FREEEEEEZING!

Lovely update. I love #6 from the HP icons the most.

Me neither. And it's not just the pro fans that seem obsessed, it seems some of the anti-adelle fans are just as obsessed. Why does Adelle have to be so black and white?? Either you're pro-adelle or anti-adelle, where do I fit in? I love Aden, I like Belle and sometimes I like their scenes together and sometimes I don't. In reality, life is full of grey areas. And on a soap like h&a, where every issue is heightened, dramatised just to entertain you, what we get is one big grey area. Why can't they as individuals, as a couple and their actions be discussed objectively? The beauty of it is they are fictional, and therefore we can discuss when & why we like/dislike their actions, however we like. It's just an opinion, we all will see things differently and with that form different opinions. And one thing I really can't understand is the need for pro-adelle and anti-adelle fans to try and convert the other to their opinion (or their side). Aden, Belle and Adelle aren't on trial, that we as fans (for or against) need to prove why they should/should not be together. Although some of the posts seem to imply that they are on trial. On the most part you're not going to be able to convert the other and all that happens is that you keep going around in circles. At the end of the day it's just two fictional characters, that form one fictional couple, that are part of a soap that it not real. Everything is fake and it's just created to entertain us. So in the words of the Joker, "why so serious?"

Love them. Gorgeous colouring on all Amy.

How on earth did a Bruce Willis film put you in the mood for sin city? Or is there a Bruce Willis film called Sin City? Bruce Willis is in the Frank Miller/Robert Rodriguez movie Sin City. He features in it as Hartigan. The only Sin Cities I could think of was something very different. Hehe. Okay I'll leave you to your Sin City. Enjoy.

How on earth did a Bruce Willis film put you in the mood for sin city? :o Or is there a Bruce Willis film called Sin City? Bruce Willis is in the Frank Miller/Robert Rodriguez movie Sin City. He features in it as Hartigan.

Damn it! I missed the update and I was looking forward to this scene the most. I saw your new fic, and I thought, why hasn't Karter updated this one. Only to find that you had. Aww. It was very touching. Especially Nic's "I'm sorry." & "Are you okay?" lines. I also loved Aden's nervousness and the awkwardness he felt over it all to begin with. And once they talked, how he wanted things to remain the same, and her not to treat him differently. I can imagine him wanting that and also Nic being so cool about it all and not making a big deal out of it. As long as he was okay. I also liked that it wasn't too soppy & over-emotional, and the fact that you kept in some of the funny, witty exchanges they are so well known for. That's how i'd expect them to react. Well written.

Great start. I loved the descriptive approach you took to writing this fic. Even though not many words were spoken, I could really feel the emotions of each character and the situation they were in. Everything was all the more detailed and I could picture the scene. Oh no... Nic's gone. I'll miss reading your Nic/Aden interaction, you write it so well. Maybe there'll be some flashback scenes. Please. Look forward to reading more.

^^We need it over here in England too Kat. It's FFFFFFFFRREEEEEEEEEEEZZZING!

Aww. Loved the last two updates. Don't want it to end and i'm hoping, like Skykat, for that sequel. Still lots of stories and characters to explore. Miss Nicole and Mr Campbell's wedding was sweet. Also it seems the Captain is wise, and quick at sussing out situations in this fic, just like on h&a. I loved his, Miss Charlotte and Miss Ruby's meddling to get Miss Belle and Mr Jefferies together. It was funny and cute. And I think Miss Ruby was just as happy as I was at Supercop making an appearance. It was a well written, unique, lighthearted story that I really enjoyed reading.

How have I not come across this fic sooner? Firstly it revolves around Gaden and secondly, it's so damn brilliantly written. I love the way the story unfolds and the flashbacks. It all just flowed naturally. It was never confusing, jumping back to past days, at the same time it left me intrigued and wanting to find out more. I also really liked the mature way in which you wrote the fic and the characters dealing with their feelings, issues and situations that arose. I loved the originality of the ending, it was very beautiful and emotion filled. Aden's confusion, and all the 3 characters feelings were perfectly written. I really enjoyed reading it. Well done.

Aww. That was so sweet. And i'm glad that you've decided to do those scenes specifically, I felt cheated when they weren't included in the show. You'd think Aden would want to know, and if he did, would have had a reaction over the whole Elliot stuff. Also what i'm really looking forward to is the next update, because we really were cheated out of a touching scene after the courtcase. With Nic always wanting to know about his 'secret' and now that they were close, she'd certainly have more of a reaction to the abuse stuff then 'i'm proud of you'. Especially considering how moved she was in the courtroom. Great writing as usual. You write Nic and Aden and their interaction so perfectly, always enjoying reading it. Well done, update soon.

Eh? Already? I miss a couple of updates and come back to find that this fic is going to end soon. Got to say I loved and laughed throughout reading these updates. at Mr Copeland being a Villian, I can't quite imagine it. Maybe it's Mrs Phillips' influence. And Mr Stewart and Mrs Roberts to the rescue, such a brave couple. Well suited in this fic. Miss Campbell is so much more gutsy in this, throwing caution to the wind, and going away with Mr Fernandez. I like. Another gutsy female in H&A and this fic, the madly in love Miss Charlotte, the runaway bride. I love how you've wriiten her with the Captain. How hilarious was it when Mr Jefferies and Mr Campbell came to the aid of Mr Buckton, exactly as you put it, a pair of hereos from a western (only not yet invented). Btw that western line was my favourite also. I also find it weird that Aden & Geoff are besties in this fic. Maybe something more between them. *slaps self for bringing Gaden into this* Actually I have to say that i'm loving the banter between Miss Belle and Mr Jefferies a bit too much in this. You write their proud, stubborn attributes well and in a very witty manner. Also happy that Miss Nicole and Mr Campbell have sorted things out. Or should I say the dim-witted Mr campbell has finally come to his senses. And the most hilarious part of this fic was the younger Holden's repeated enthusiasm at wanting a duel with the Captain. I think he's rather deluded if he thinks he could take on the Captain. It's good to know that Doctor Holden has more sense about him, and made sure that he left the pretty young Holden with the Ladies, where he belongs. I think i've ranted on enough for someone to think that this is an update. lol! So I shall stop. Atleast you know how much I love this fic and hope you carry it on a little longer.

Loving the Dani icons. They're all great.

I love the 'I <3 Gaden' one. Nice style.

Great update Sarah. Love them all but especially the Leah screaming one, the last Sally one and the First Aden icon.

Gorgeous colouring on the JM icons. Love them all.

I really love the b&w Belle icon, but they are all amazing Jen.

Great updates. My favourites from the first batch is the b&w Belle icon and from the 2nd update is icons #1, 13, 14, 17 & 18. Gorgeous colouring.